Are there days when you get nothing but bad luck and trouble? If your day is not going at all as planned, can you blame it on sources outside of your control? Is there even such a thing as bad luck and superstition? Or, as many experts would consider it, culture? It may not be fun to have bad luck, but it is fascinating to examine all the signs, symbols and objects that people believe bring bad luck.

Friday the 13th

Holding a top position in the list of all things unlucky is the number 13. Western superstition reserves a special place for 13 because it is the number of people who sat at the Last Supper on the night Jesus was betrayed. A few days later, Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Put the two together, and Friday the 13th is supposed to bring bad luck and trouble.

The fear of 13 has a name – tristaidekaphobia – even though, according to Dr. Robert Epstein in Psychology Today, it is “not troublesome enough to appear in the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals.” Still, it is real enough to cause most builders to construct tall buildings without a 13th floor; the number jumps from 12 to 14 to avoid bad luck.

Superstition is not free. According to author Suzanne Lord, “fear of the number 13 costs America a billion dollars a year in absenteeism, train and plane cancellations, and reduced commerce on the 13th of the month.” In her book Superstitions, Lord details the coincidence when Apollo 13 spaceflight was aborted: “It was the 13th mission, launched from pad 39 (13 times 3) at 1:13 p.m. (1313 in military time) on April 13.”

As a country founded from 13 original colonies, however, the number 13 actually appears prominently in many of our national symbols. Lord notes that our flag has 13 stripes. The Great Seal of the United States has 13 stars. The eagle in the Seal holds in one claw 13 arrows and in the other an olive branch with 13 leaves and 13 olives. If the number 13 were to bring such bad luck and trouble, it did not seem to affect our country. Maybe the bad luck left with the British when they lost the Colonies? Who knows!

7 Years Bad Luck

If Friday the 13th brings one bad day, breaking a mirror is many times worse: It is supposed to bring trouble for a whopping seven years!

In her book, Lord explains that this superstition is based on the ancients’ belief that mirrors were dangerous; “they caught an image of the original person and made two.” Add that to the fact that the Romans believed the body renewed’ itself every seven years. When a mirror broke and hurt the image of the person looking into it, the fresh renewal was believed to be canceled. Hence, seven years’ bad luck.

OldSuperstitions.com claims that breaking a mirror will not result in seven years’ bad luck if you “take the pieces outside and bury them in moonlight.” People who live in apartments may be wise to have some outside dirt ready for this contingency.

* To see your reflection in a mirror is to see your own soul, which is why a vampire, who is without a soul, has no reflection.

* If a couple first catches sight of each other in a mirror, they will have a happy marriage.

* Any mirrors in a room where someone has recently died must be covered so that the dead person's soul does not get trapped behind the glass. Superstition has it that the Devil invented mirrors for this very purpose.

* It is bad luck to see your face in a mirror when sitting by candlelight.

* Before mirrors, in ancient societies, if you caught sight of your reflection or dreamt of it, you would soon die.

* Babies should not look into a mirror for the first year of their lives.

* Actors believe that it is bad luck to see their reflection while looking over the shoulder of another person.

* To see an image of her future husband, a woman is told to eat an apple while sitting in front of a mirror and then brush her hair. An image of the man will appear behind her shoulder.

But as with other superstitions, these claims go back many centuries, and there is no proof of their credibility.

Watch Where You WalkAs if it were not enough to mind where you look, to avoid bad luck you should also watch where you’re walking. One place you really should not go for a walk is under a ladder.

It may make perfect sense not to walk under a ladder from a safety perspective. You don’t want that bucket of paint on top of the ladder to drop on your head. But that practical consideration is not enough; you also have the fear of getting bad luck if you walk under a ladder.

There have been many explanations for this superstition. The CSICOP explains one theory that hinges on the triangular shape formed by the ladder when leaned against a wall: “The triangle is considered the symbol representing the Holy Trinity and to walk through a triangle violates and desecrates God while you, the perpetrator, fall prey to Satan.

Suzanne Lord, however, provides an explanation based on the opposite entity; not God, but the devil: “Tradition says a ladder was leaning against Jesus’ cross. The devil stood underneath that ladder.... Under the ladder’ became Satan’s territory. Walking under one puts a person in danger of the devil’s ambush."

Like many ancient bad luck superstitions, for every sign there’s a way out. The CSICOP says that if you accidentally walk under the ladder, it is believed that you can avoid bad luck and trouble if you:

* Spit three times through the ladder's rungs.

* If you don’t want to spit through the ladder’s rungs, you can spit on your own shoes and continue walking, but don't look down at the shoe until the spittle has dried.

* Cross your fingers until you see a dog.

* Or, in what seems like an “undo” key in real life, walk backwards, out from the ladder the same way you came in, and make a wish as you go back out.

To emphasize the “fun” aspect of learning about bad luck symbols, the CSICOP even originated a “Superstition Bash” in the early 1990s, and similar events can now be found all over the world.

Have Your Own Superstition Bash

A Superstition Bash, says the CSICOP, is “an event which explores the fascinating world of belief through history.” One activity may be to challenge that devil under the ladder by holding a ladder limbo contest. If you don’t fear seven years’ bad luck (or you want seven years’ worth of excuses to “blame it on bad luck”), you can celebrate with a mirror mashing event. Spill some salt and throw it on your right side (gasp!). Oh, and hold it on a Friday the 13th. On some building’s 13th floor. If you can find one, that is!

Are You Skilled at Being Lucky?Forget four-leaf clovers, the number seven and shiny new pennies. The gift of good fortune - a job you love, a new boyfriend, a fattened bank account - is within your reach, and luck has nothing to do with it. It's your behavior and general attitude that have everything to do with it. For some, it comes naturally; others need to work at it. Find out how your skills rate with this luck quiz.